Little Shop of Secrets
by Littleshopofaudrey
Summary: Seymour tries to help Audrey when he discovers the way Mr Mushnik has been treating her.
1. Chapter 1

"Krelborn! Get in here!" Mushnik's sudden bellowing made Audrey almost jump out of her skin. The store was finally quiet after three straight hours of people swarming to see the strange and interesting Audrey II. Their lunch hour was the only peaceful moment any of them got in the shop nowadays.

Seymour ran towards Audrey and Mushnik, miraculously not knocking over anything in the process. Perhaps Audrey II was gonna be his good luck charm. Mushnik just stared at him. "I'm starving! Run down to Schmendrick's and bring me a club sandwich."

"Right away, Sir!" As Mushnik went back to reading his paper, Seymour glanced over at Audrey and smiled. She had been pretty quiet today, presumably after another bad date with Orin. She had a fresh bruise on her cheek and was failing miserably to hide the row of hickeys dotted across her neck. "Audrey, can I get you anything?"

Still a little dazed, she snapped back to reality. "Huh? Oh, nothing for me. I'm not very hungry. Thank you, Seymour." Those little moments of kindness meant to Audrey than anyone could possibly know.

He grinned haplessly back at her. "I'll be back in about 20 minutes. 15 if nobody stops me on the street again." Seymour had become quite the local celebrity thanks to a certain exotic plant. Before he walked out, he turned his head and called "see ya, Twoey!" This made Audrey smile.

Mushnik, still engrossed in his paper, was only aware of Seymour's absence once the bell over the door chimed. He lowered the paper and moved over to Audrey who was sitting quietly, fumbling with her nails. As he approached her, she looked up at him. He gestured to her cheek, "That looks bad."

Audrey's hands delicately traced over the bruise. "Oh, it's-uh-nothing."

He exhaled and exasperatedly pointed to her neck. "How about those? Those nothing, too?"

Her brown eyes began to fill with tears. "Sure."

"Oh, Audrey! Come here!" He motioned for her to stand up and pulled her into his embrace. Even in her heels, he was taller than her which gave her an unfamiliar sense of protection. When he allowed himself to be compassionate, Audrey likened him to a giant teddy bear. She hadn't had someone show her this much physical care, without some ulterior motive, in a long time. After a minute, she regained her composure and pulled back slightly, looking up at him and smiling gratefully.

"Thank you." She uttered, barely audible. He cupped her cheek, the one sans bruise, and suddenly pulled her lips to his own. Without waiting, he had slipped his tongue into her mouth and his free hand was already fumbling with the zip on the back of her dress.

When she realized what was happening, she launched herself backwards, which was not easy to do in spiked heels. "Mr Mushnik! Wh-what are you doing?!"

He looked at her, dumbfounded, while also sporting an unmistakable erection. "Come on, Audrey. We have 15 minutes! 20 if we're lucky!" He started to touch himself. "I understand you, I can provide you with that. You're a smart girl when it comes to these things. I let you come and go as you please, you've been late God knows how many times, I try to help you with your boyfriends or whatever it is you wanna call them. Flings?" His words stung Audrey to the core. "You must've suspected at least something was going on between us?"

With that, Audrey started to doubt everything she had done while working for him. Had she touched him too flirtatiously? Had she worn the wrong thing? Was she giving him the wrong impression? "I-I always thought of you more like a father figure to me. I-I thought you saw me as a daughter?" She was internally praying that this was all just one big misunderstanding.

He stopped touching himself and walked over to her, causing her to instinctively take a few small steps backwards. "Audrey, I want you." He kissed her again and she put a stop to this one immediately.

"No! S-stop!" She retreated and stood behind the counter. As kindly as she could, she said "I respect you, Sir. I do. And I love working here. But I just don't see you in that way, I hope you can understand? Not to mention, I'm in a relationship. Why don't we just put this all behind us? Forget it ever happened?" Her hands were shaking.

There was a pause. "You love working here?"

She beamed and nodded vigorously. "I really do."

He knew what he was about to do was wrong. But his primal desires were in control now, not his moral compass. He gulped. "I think if you love working here, you should come closer." He looked down at his erection then back up to her.

"You mean...you'd fire me? If-if I don't?" She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

His eyes were glued to the ground "I'm not saying that." As he slowly rose his head to look at her, he added "But I'm not not saying that."

Audrey couldn't lose her job. She just couldn't. The thought of having to take on even more hours at The Gutter made her sick to her stomach. As it was, she was barely keeping her head above water. And the thought of not seeing Seymour? She didn't know what was worse. Financially she couldn't afford to lose her job. Emotionally she couldn't afford to lose her job. She made her decision without saying a word.

From behind the cash register, she took off her panties and folded them on the counter. She was doing her best to maintain some of her dignity. Without saying a word, she simply lay back on the marble floor and parted her legs a little. It was over practically as soon as it began. He was loud. And clumsy. And not the type of person she had thought him to be.

He finished pretty quickly and began to tuck his shirt back in. She closed her legs but didn't have the motivation to stand from the floor. He took her panties off the counter and handed them to her with a smile which made her feel even worse, if that was possible. He then offered her a hand to help her stand up but she rejected, instead opting to use the floor to push herself up. She walked behind the counter and pulled her panties up.

The atmosphere was indescribable. He calmly walked back over to his paper and resumed reading like nothing had happened. She stood in complete disbelief, unsure of what to do then…*ding.*

Suddenly, Seymour stumbled back into the shop holding two brown paper bags and a plastic cup.

"Well!" The sound of Mushnik's voice sounded foreign to her. "Took your time, Krelborn!"

"I'm sorry, Sir!" Seymour handed him the brown paper bag then walked over to Audrey. "I know you said you weren't feeling very hungry but I got you this." He placed the cup on the counter. "It's an iced tea." He said with a crooked grin.

Her hand was shaking as she reached for the cup. "Thank you, Seymour." He simply nodded in return and noticed what looked like a fresh bite mark in between her neck and shoulder. "Huh", he thought. He could've sworn that wasn't there before.


	2. Chapter 2

"6 o'clock!" Mushnik banged the desk and headed to retrieve his coat. "Krelborn, whatever you're doing to that plant, keep doing it. Don't mess this up, kid! It's just getting bigger and more interesting!" He opened the door to leave and turned back for one final time. "Against my better judgment, I'm counting on you. Do not let me down, understand? Good night." He then looked over at Audrey and lingered for a second. "Good night, Audrey."

She didn't move. She didn't even flinch. Seymour closed the door behind Mushnik and walked over to Audrey. She had been sitting behind the counter for hours, he couldn't even remember the last time he had heard her speak. "Au-Audrey? Are you okay?"

She nodded ever so slightly, had he not been so fixated on her, he would've missed it.

"I don't think you are...you seem a little shaken." He put hand on her shoulder only to have her yelp and jump up, causing the stool beneath her to tumble to the ground. That was what she needed to remind herself of where she was. She quickly stumbled to pick the stool up.

"I'm so sorry! I'm fine, just tired! Well, I had better head home, it's after six! Good night, Seymour! See you tomorrow!" She was clearly trying to conceal whatever she was feeling behind a heightened Audrey facade; chirpy and upbeat.

She was practically running across the street to her apartment. "Are you sure you're okay?!" He called.

Without turning back, she replied "Yes!" No.

He watched her head into her apartment before finally closing the door. He turned to Audrey II with a puzzled expression. "What's going on with her, Twoey?" There was no reply. Obviously not.


	3. Chapter 3

Seymour had noticed how strange Audrey had been behaving lately, it had been like this for almost two weeks and he was starting to get seriously worried. He just assumed it was something between her and her boyfriend so he didn't wanna press the subject, she was understandably hesitant to talk about matters surrounding her relationship. However lately, something had definitely changed. He'd never seen her like this before. She was indescribably talkative and happy, almost as though she was trying to prove something to, not only others, but herself.

Mr Mushnik had just put the "lunch hour" sign in the door. "Krelborn! Run down to Schmendrick's for me!" Seymour had found it strange how often Mushnik was sending him out of the shop to get his lunch, that had been every day for almost two weeks now.

"Yes, sir! What can I get you?" Seymour asked.

"Now, get this right Krelborn. I want turkey, ham, tomato, lettuce, cucumber and extra mayo on white bread. You got that?"

Seymour repeated "turkey, ham, tomato, lettuce, cucumber and extra mayo on brown bread. Got it!"

"White! White bread! Not brown bread, white!" Mushnik was beginning to turn a shade of red from yelling.

"I'm sorry, Mr Mushnik! I'll be back soon!" The bell rang and, with that, Mushnik turned to face Audrey.

"I like that dress." Audrey glanced down, it was her favorite. It would've been just another boring black dress had it not been for the small embroidered flower on the right hand side of her chest. She was always drawn to flowers like a siren call. He stalked over to her and pointed at the small flower that Audrey had once loved so much. "This is my favorite part." His finger grazed over the pattern then began to cup and knead Audrey's breast.

She shuddered and let him continue. He leaned into her ear and whispered "I can't wait." He began to lift her dress and pull her tights down. She heard a tear and glanced down, realizing he had unintentionally ripped her slip in the process. He kissed her mouth; she didn't kiss him back. "Wait, I wanna see them again." He began to unzip the back of her dress. "Undo it, I don't know how." She reached behind her back and unclasped her bra, letting it fall to the ground. "Wow…" was all he could say.

While frantically pulling his pants down, he asked "how do you want it?" She didn't want it. Not at all. Not one bit. He looked her up and down like she was a piece of prime meat, sizing up what he wanted to do with her.

"Here…" He took her hand and guided her over to the counter where he bent her over. He stood behind her and, without a moment's hesitation, inserted himself inside of her. She yelped at the sudden impact but he didn't slow down, if anything he began to speed up. The marble counter was freezing against her breasts causing her to become physically numb, as well as emotionally.

"Make a little noise, moan a bit. It'll help me along, okay?" Audrey did as she was told, she always told. He snapped his fingers; she said "sure."

There were a handful of moments in Audrey's life where it felt like time stood still for a second. The first was when, at age 12, her mother's boyfriend lay her on the couch and stripped her of her innocence. The second was when her mother passed away, leaving her entirely on her own for the first time at the age of 17. The third and final time was, at the age of 32, when she heard a bell and turned her head to see the love of her life, Seymour, staring at her as she was in the midst of being violated by their boss...


	4. Chapter 4

Mr. Mushnik almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the bell. He turned his head to see Seymour with his eyes clearly bulging out of his head, noticeable despite his thick rimmed glasses. His jaw was almost touching the ground. "Krelborn! Get the fuck out of here!" With that, Seymour snapped back to reality and ran outside, frantically pulling the door shut behind him. He had only returned so early because he couldn't remember whether or not his boss wanted white bread or brown bread.

Shaking, he stood outside of the shop and tried to collect his thoughts. Other than the shop and his basement, he couldn't think of anywhere else to go. He turned and saw Audrey's apartment building, sweet and lovely Audrey. Audrey who was apparently now dating...Mr. Mushnik? How could he have been so blind to it? He'd been so busy daydreaming about a life they could one day share together, he'd ignored that she clearly only had eyes for one man in that shop.

With his back slouched and his hands in his pockets, he half-heartedly strolled over to Audrey's apartment. The key she had given him a few months ago sat on his bedside table so he slid down the wall and sat on the freezing concrete outside her door.

Seymour couldn't tell if he was shaking from the cold or from the shock of what he'd just seen. He was devastated. Any chance he'd had with Audrey, which wasn't much anyway, had been torn up and stomped on. Maybe she was happy with him? However, he couldn't help think she deserved better, especially knowing firsthand what a temper Mr. Mushnik possessed. She deserved a prince. Someone who would never yell at her or strike her, someone like...Seymour? No. He wasn't good enough for her. "As long as she's happy", Seymour repeatedly whispered under his breath, wiping away the tears that fell despite his attempts.

He heard the clip-clop of spiked heels nearing closer to him, it reminded him of Audrey. Whoever it was seemed to be running pretty quickly and then the door opened and he saw her. Mascara running down her cheeks, her dress hadn't been zipped back up so she held it tightly around herself like some sort of blanket.

She saw him sitting there and immediately looked away, ranching through her purse for her key. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably. She pulled the key out but simultaneously dropped her purse, letting it fall to the ground without care. She could barely keep a grip on her keys let alone successfully open the door, with each push she seemed to barely miss the lock.

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" The keys fell to the floor and, with an open palm, Audrey smacked her hand against the closed door. "Damn it!" She lowered herself to the floor and balanced on her heels, resting her head between her knees, she began to sob.

Without saying a word, Seymour retrieved both the keys and her purse from the ground and opened the door, barely placing his hand on her back to let her know. She sniffled and took a deep inhale, trying to regain her composure. She walked into her apartment and sat on the edge of her bed, holding onto a stuffed dog as she sat in an almost trance-like state.

Seymour was naïve but he knew enough to know just what Audrey needed right now. Sweet understanding. He didn't rush her into talking, he just stayed with her to let her know she wasn't alone. That he didn't judge for what he'd just seen.

For the first time in almost 20 minutes, she moved. She lay on her side and brought her knees up to her chest, holding the stuffed animal a little closer to her. "I'm sorry." She mumbled, it was barely audible.

"No! I-It was my fault! I shouldn't have come back so soon, I should've knocked, I should've known, Audrey! You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about." Seymour had barely taken a breath. She still couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes. "I just want you to be happy, that's all I've ever wanted. And if Mr. Mushnik makes you happy then I'm thrilled for you! As long as he loves you and you love him and-"

"Seymour!" He was shocked when she finally looked at him. "I don't love him, I'm not even sure I like him all that much anymore."

"But-But you were...I mean, you were…" While he wasn't the most knowledgeable about matters of the bedroom, he knew what they were doing.

Her face suddenly began to feel flushed and she put her hands up to her cheeks. "I know, I know. Gosh, what you must think of me."

"You're dating, that's what couples do. Why would I judge you for that?" Sure, doing that sort of thing in the shop was maybe a little unorthodox, and unhygienic, but it wasn't like she'd killed someone.

"We are not dating!" Rather than snapping at him, she'd uttered her sentence in the lowest register Seymour had ever heard her use. She didn't even sound like Audrey.

"Okay?..." He didn't want to ask her any questions that she wasn't prepared to answer. One thing he did know was that she trusted him, something he was very proud of. Rather than interrogate her, he wanted to give her the opportunity to get whatever was bothering her off her chest.

"What you saw…" She paused for a moment, still in disbelief that Seymour had to see her like that. "I don't love Mr. Mushnik." She wished she could tell him the truth about who she really loved. "We're not a couple. I mean, I'm still dating Orin. H-He told me that if I didn't, he would fire me. I couldn't afford that, Seymour! I need that job! We're just starting to get successful, imagine all the customers we'd be letting down if we were short staffed? I didn't wanna put that pressure on you. Plus, I love arranging the flowers and I-"

"Shh, Audrey. It's alright." He took her hand in his, he didn't need to hear anymore. Taking a few seconds before he spoke, he wanted to make sure he said the right thing. "You don't have to explain yourself to me. None of it matters beyond him giving you that ultimatum. That's practically blackmail!" He found himself growing angrier and angrier but tried to subdue it, that's not what she needed right now. She'd had enough men with short tempers to deal with in her life. "Audrey, this next part is important. It's not your fault." He slowed his speech down to allow her to really take it in.

The words hit her to her core and she began to sob. Rather than seeking solace in a stuffed toy, she threw her arms around Seymour, wanting only to be held. He hugged her back with no ulterior motives, no underlying exploit. Just pure innocence. Seymour was her friend.


	5. Chapter 5

A few hours had passed since both Seymour and Audrey had their lives turned upside down. Seymour had made her some tea while she took a sominex and now, she was sleeping off what had obviously been a traumatic day for her. Well, a traumatic few weeks. Maybe longer, he knew she hadn't had an entirely easy life but that's one of the things he admired about her; despite everything she'd gone through, she remained Audrey. She was the only beautiful part of Skid Row.

He had watched Mr. Mushnik close the shop and leave at around 3 o'clock, he wouldn't have been able to handle all of those customers on his own. It must have been a dire situation for him to miss out on a whole three hours worth of business.

Once he was absolutely sure that Audrey was out for the count, Seymour quietly snuck out and shuffled along to the shop. He began to pace, repeatedly muttering "What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?" He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the all mightiest thud behind him. He snapped his head back to see that the ever growing Audrey II had wilted and collapsed to the ground.

"Oh, boy. Here we go again. Just give me a few days to heal, okay? Then we can start on the left hand and-"

"Feed me…" Seymour looked around the room, trying to identify the source of the small utter.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked the empty shop.

"Feed me!" There it was again. He could've sworn the sound came from...

"Twoey...you talked?! You opened your trap, y-your thing and you said…" After the day he'd had, it was very possible he was hallucinating all of this. Seymour knew everything about plants and he certainly knew that they don't talk!

"Feed me, Krelborn! Feed me now!" Audrey II stood to attention, looming above Seymour.

"You eat blood, Audrey II! Let's face it. How am I supposed to keep on feeding you? Kill people?!" He certainly couldn't keep doing what he'd been doing for the past few weeks. It was taking a huge toll on him and Audrey needed him at full strength. He needed to be strong for her.

"Take a breath and look around, a lot of folks deserve to die!"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute! That's not a very nice thing to say!" He closed the plant's mouth with his hands, that was the only thing he could think of to get it to stop. "I don't know anyone who deserves to get chopped up and fed to a hungry plant!"

"Sure, you do! How about that Mushnik? I've seen it all, Seymour!" Seymour, against his better judgment, finally began to pay attention to the plant. "The touches? The sounds? The way she cried every single time, Seymour? Hmm?"

Seymour raised his hands to his ears and pressed as tears filled in his eyes. "I don't wanna hear this!" All night, he was struggling to cope with his imagination as it ran wild about the atrocities Audrey faced in that shop which was once a safe haven for her. He certainly didn't need to hear confirmation from a firsthand source.

Twoey continued, somewhat basking in how much he was making Seymour squirm but also thrilled that he knew he was getting to him, he was one step closer to a good meal.

One huge vine pointed to the spot just behind where Seymour stood, "That's where it happened for the first time." Seymour turned to look at the cold, hard, concrete floor. After years of sleeping on it, he knew fine well that it wasn't comfortable in the slightest. He tried to erase the image of poor Audrey suffering on that floor from his mind.

Another vine shot towards the door. "That door, kid." Seymour's eyes followed the vine. "Every day, the second that door closed behind you, he was all over her. And you know what she'd cry? 'Please! No! No! No!'"

With each "No!", Audrey II's volume increased to levels beyond belief, although the plant talking in the first place was inconceivable enough.

That was enough to push Seymour over the edge. His face turned a shade of bright red and his blood felt as though it was literally boiling. Never in his life had he experienced anger like this; and considering the life he'd had, he had a lot to be angry about.

His body tensed and he practically combusted. "If you want a rationale, it isn't very hard to see. Stop and think it over, pal. The guy sure looks like plant food to me. The guy sure looks like plant food to me? The guy sure looks like plant food to me!"

"So, go get it!" Audrey II encouraged, leaving Seymour snarling with a taste for blood practically as strong as the plant's.


End file.
